Days of our Lives is not fooling around with the recast of the character of Philip. Although Jay Kenneth Johnston, the actor who recently vacated the role, was a major fan favorite, Days is banking on nuPhilip to take over where old Philip left off without skipping much of a beat.

Enter Kyle Brandt, nu Philip. Brandt was last seen playing himself on MTV’s Real World: Chicago. But let’s take a step back. Bulked up here to a svelte 205 lbs and ready to play both offense and defense for Princeton University football, Brandt skillfully handled both a football and acting career while attending Princeton University. Which means he’s smart, athletic, and talented! Quite the combo.

Jerry Price, a writer for the Athletics section of the Princeton website, remarked of Brandt during Brandt's football-playing days at Princeton:

“If Brandt isn't intimidated by playing such a leading role for the (Princeton) Tigers, it's because he's played several leading roles on the campus. Brandt is a veteran actor who has appeared in numerous campus productions, and he is considering a career either as an actor or in production, following in the footsteps of Princeton football alums-turned-Hollywood Dean Cain '88 and Michael Carr '95.”

Price continues by quoting Brandt: "I've been in five plays at Princeton," Brandt says. "I've done things over the summer with film academies and film schools. If I brought some of that stuff into locker room, my teammates would probably die laughing. Straddling the line between being a football player and a theater person has given me a lot of culture, and a lot of ribbing from my teammates. Last year, during spring practice, I had to take off my football equipment, shower and run up campus to the theater. It was very unusual."

From what we gather at Soapdom.com, Brandt was quite the football hero at Princeton. Now, he’s lost some of that football bulk and he’s headed straight for Salem. Sources at the show will not reveal how the character of Philip will be reintroduced, which makes us believe that they have something pretty special cooked up. Stay tuned.

FYI, Brandt was born Jan. 24, 1979 to Robert Brandt and Georgia Goldberg. Brandt’s dad is an advertising executive who attended Notre Dame and his mother, a graduate of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, is in the film industry. He has three siblings -- Ashley, his older sister, graduated from Indiana. His younger sister is Casey, and younger brother Austin Goldberg. While at Princeton, he majored in English.

Watch for Brandt to show up in Salem as nu Philip sometime in early May.